It might seem that the elites of the United States are united in their attitude toward what is happening now in Ukraine. However, there are many signs to the contrary. There are a number of voices in the U.S. criticizing Biden for his policies toward Russia, and for a variety of reasons. And chances are that the next U.S. president-maybe Trump again? - will behave very differently.
On March 1, Fox News, one of the most famous and popular networks in the U.S., blasted a video on the Internet. Colonel Douglas MacGregor, a former senior adviser to the Secretary of Defense, spoke live with the host of Fox News and revealed some surprising facts for the United States.
It turns out that "Vladimir Putin is now implementing what he has been warning us about for at least 15 years. That he would not tolerate the stationing of U.S. troops or missile systems near Russia's borders. That's about as much as we wouldn't tolerate their troops and missiles in Cuba. We ignored Putin, and he took action. He could not afford for Ukraine, under any circumstances, to join NATO," says the colonel.
According to him, Vladimir Putin is not even an enemy. "He is not interested in a war with us, he does not have an army of adequate size to carry out such tasks and appropriate economic capabilities. So he doesn't need it. We attribute to him intentions that he has not voiced, in our attempts to demonize him and his country...
Ukraine is not the shining example of liberal democracy as it is painted to us. Moreover, Zelensky has jailed journalists and members of the political opposition. I think we should stand by that. American citizens want to be out of it. Europeans want to be out of it, too. I think we need to stop supplying arms and encouraging Ukrainians to die for nothing."
It may seem to some that Washington has moved away from mantras and is ready to understand and recognize Russian interests. However, this is not entirely true. All these statements are made and used not to reconcile with Russia, but to discredit President Joseph Biden. And such things are being said not only by the colonels, but also by a significant part of the Republican establishment, led, in fact, by the party leader, former President Donald Trump.
"Though Trump has marked many actions, the current situation is unprecedented: a former president publicly undermining a sitting president's foreign policy toward the enemy,"
- writes CNN.
"In normal times, attempts by a former, and if the Republican Party follows the current path, future U.S. president to publicly stand alongside a foreign enemy attacking a U.S. ally would have drawn national scorn and accusations of treason. But these are extraordinary times we live in," agrees The Hill.
These are times when cross-party consensus in the U.S. no longer exists-no red lines or respect for one another. The parties are antagonized for the fourth election cycle (since the early Obama years), so "with the political struggle in the run-up to the midterm elections in Congress, the Republicans are using every opportunity to undermine the political positions of the administration and the Democrats. That is why they compare the present situation in Ukraine with the fiasco suffered by the United States in Afghanistan, when they fled in disgrace and even failed to organize an evacuation," says Dmitry Suslov, deputy director of the Center for Complex European and International Studies at the Higher School of Economics.
The defeat in Afghanistan, the problems in the economy, and the failure of migration reforms have all led to the fact that the anti-Biden propaganda is working. Today only 41% of voters sympathize with Biden, while almost 53% view him negatively.
Nearly 60% are convinced that Putin entered Ukraine because of Biden's weakness. And 62% of Americans believe that "Putin would not have invaded Ukraine if Donald Trump had remained president of the United States. Divided by party, 85% of Republicans and 38% of Democrats think so. At the same time, Trump's rating exceeds Biden's by several percentage points.
Understandably, Biden's defenders-the liberal establishment, the media, and the Democratic Party itself (which Biden must lead in the midterm elections)-have to defend the chief somehow. Unable to explain and justify the current head of state's series of failures on domestic policy, anti-Covid and the economy, they are pulling the old mantra about Trump being Vladimir Putin's puppet out of the closet. "Trump is turning a wing of the Republican Party into Putin's cheerleaders," CNN writes.
However, it is not a question of cheerleaders of any one segment, but of a convergence of views among key branches of the Republican Party on the very fact that Biden is to blame for the current crisis plaguing the United States. "The Republican foreign policy establishment consists of two parts: neoconservatives and realists. The former accuse Biden of not being tough enough on Putin, not imposing enough sanctions, etc. The realists argue that the Biden and Obama administrations (where Biden was vice president) have created the current situation without showing proper respect for Putin's interests and Russia as a whole." explains Dmitry Suslov.
Actually, Colonel McGregor refers to the latter. Congressman Mike Garcia, in particular, speaks for the former. He says the war in Ukraine was the result of the Biden administration's failure to create "a strong system of deterrence and a failure to show the world that the United States and our allies must be respected."
"Over the past year, we have turned our backs on our allies, opened our borders (apparently to illegal immigrants whom Biden wants to legalize - VZGLYAD commentary) and adopted pretentious progressive ideas (called left-liberal ideas in Russia - VZGLYAD commentary) that do not help us ensure national security," the American congressman assures.
Despite this passage against ultra-liberalism, Russia's position is closer to that of realists. Those who urge not to pressurize Moscow, but to seek common ground with it. Those who at least partially share Russia's views on the fundamental flaws in the European and global security system. "Realists argue that NATO expansion has indeed been the fundamental cause of the current crisis. That America's obsession with NATO enlargement and its desire to bring Ukraine into it made the crisis inevitable," says Dmitry Suslov.
Yes, until recently there were not many realists, their voice was silent. But the question is, how will it sound now, after the Russian operation in Ukraine? Certainly not immediately after-it is now a time of denial and sanctions-but upon reaching the stage of accepting the new reality.
"The U.S., of course, has lost Ukraine in a geopolitical sense. The system that they created in Ukraine for many years is now being dismantled. And their position in the post-Soviet space as a whole has weakened dramatically. An important indicator was the position of Georgia, which refused to join the anti-Russian sanctions. Observing the situation around Ukraine, it has learned an important lesson: no one will help. No one at all. All help from the West consists of words and insignificant economic assistance, and in a critical situation these countries are simply abandoned. This is a serious blow to the U.S. position," says Suslov. - At the same time, they cannot increase pressure on Russia.
First, because the world is no longer unipolar, and it is clear that the key non-Western centers of power are not consolidated against Russia. In the area of economic interaction, there are virtually insurmountable obstacles to the imposition of sanctions because their imposition would deal a blow to the United States and the West as a whole.
Finally, there is China. The United States understands that if it builds up its military presence in Eastern Europe, it will weaken the Chinese front - the main and strategic front.
And Moscow seems to confirm these theses, demonstrating mutual understanding with China (through diplomatic speeches and gas contracts), as well as conversations with U.S. allies expressing support for Moscow's actions (notably the crown prince of the United Arab Emirates).
Perhaps if Trump wins (first in the midterm elections for Congress and then for president in 2024), the realist camp will strengthen dramatically. First, because Trump himself is a part of it. Second, this view is shared by most of his voters (who believe that Ukraine is not an American affair). Finally, by this time, the U.S. will have reached the stage of understanding and acceptance that it is necessary to negotiate with Moscow (which has survived the sanctions and has implemented its agenda in Ukraine).
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